Quentin Tarantino helps save historic Parisian cinema

2 million euros were raised so that La Clef could be renovated. David Lynch, Agnès Jaoui, Céline Sciamma, Leos Carax…

Since its closure in 2019, the independent cinema La Clé, located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, has been supported by many moviegoers. Leos Carax, Frederick Wiseman, Céline Sciamma and Adèle Haenel notably occupied the premises to organize debates and screenings. The attempt to save this mythical place in the capital reached the ears of American directors, and after an open letter from Martin Scorsese to support this movement, Quentin Tarantino personally invested a large sum so that he could be saved. And renovated.

We don’t know precisely what he offered Cinema Revival, the group of activists who had been trying for 5 years to save La Clef, but here’s what he details. Deadline : to carry out major work for an entire year, the collective established a quote of 2 million euros. To do this, they organized an online participation campaign, and collected 400,000 euros via 5,000 individual donations, from anonymous people as well as cinema personalities: the American site cites David Lynch, Wang Bing, Sophie Fillières, Agnès Jaoui and Irène Jacob in addition to the filmmakers named above.

In May 2023, while he was signing his book Cinema Speculation in Paris, after presenting a special screening of Rolling Thunder in Cannes, Quentin Tarantino learned of Cinema Revival’s approach, and after discussing with members of the collective, he sent an email to the team asking how many euros were missing from the kitty to be able to permanently save the La Clef cinema . He would then have personally invested the remaining sum with “two other filmmakers wanting to remain anonymous”.

“He was very interested in our project, says one of the members of the collective. He sent us this email asking: ‘How much do you need to save this cinema?’ The subject of the email was: ‘It’s Quentin Tarantino’and at the end it was written: ‘Sent from my iPad.’ He asked us specifically what we needed to cover all costs. This allowed us to complete all of our financing.”

During confinement in 2020, the collective organized outdoor film screenings above the La Clef cinema.

The group plans to reopen La Clef for four days of exceptional screenings, from June 27 to 30, to celebrate the launch of the work which will require a closure of approximately one year. The amount invested will also make it possible to employ two people full-time to run the store, in addition to the volunteers already hired to choose the programming. The first film shown on June 27 will be Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), by Agnès Varda, presented to the public by her daughter Rosalie. Then other cult works of French and international independent cinema will be offered during these four days of broadcasts.

“Cinema is a community affair, it holds strong thanks to the volunteers who are involved in this collective, who evolve in total political, cultural and economic autonomy, specifies Cinema Revival at Deadline. The fund owns the building, but they have no say in how this theater is run. We created a structure without investors, which ensures that the people who invest money in this project cannot direct the operation of the cinema. It is on this condition that we can preserve the independence of cinema.”

The American source finally recalls to what extent Quentin Tarantino is a great defender of cinema in theaters. It has also acquired two, in Los Angeles: the New Beverly Cinema, in 2014, then the Vista Theater, in 2021.

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